


Eighteen

by eovaldi



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Beaches, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Summer Love, i dont want to tag this with high school au but they're in high school, strict fathers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:23:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21910864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eovaldi/pseuds/eovaldi
Summary: Eighteen, life is a bad dream,But then you wake up and things are different for you.It seems so simple when you step back and view it.Just find something to do and then do it.Rhys and Bryce are high schoolers in Santa Cruz, it's their last summer before they both have to go to college. Let's pretend Bryce was allowed to have a normal teenager's life instead of being ferried as fast as he could into Major League Baseball.
Relationships: Rhys Hoskins/Bryce Harper
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8
Collections: MLB Offseason Shortform Ficathon





	Eighteen

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [allegheny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allegheny/pseuds/allegheny) in the [mlb_offseason_shortform](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/mlb_offseason_shortform) collection. 

> **Prompt:**
> 
> An AU, the plot of which is this tweet. Your choice of "best friend".
> 
> https://twitter.com/Crawford_MILB/status/998244358129311744  
"In this version of the 1980s movie, Harper takes off his glasses and his best friend realizes that he's been in love with him this whole time."

“Hey, Bryce.” Rhys bit the inside of his cheek, waiting for the response. 

“Yeah?” Bryce's voice is tinny through the phone, it makes Rhys nervous for some reason. Why the hell is he nervous talking to his best friend on the phone?

“I was checking the tide report tonight, it’s a red tide. You ever seen a wave glow?” He feels a little stupid. What if Bryce thinks his idea is stupid? It just feels like so long since Rhys saw him when Bryce wasn’t wearing a stupid polo shirt and a visor. 

“Is this an innuendo?” Rhys lets himself imagine Bryce, maybe getting ready for work, maybe he’s standing in his boxers in his room, smirking as he pulls on his way-too-tight jeans. His hair a little messy, glasses askew. Why is he thinking about this? 

“No, no, do you have the night off? I’ll take you to the beach, and show you what I mean.” Rhys is afraid he sounds too eager again. He feels like his brain is playing tricks on him. He’s praying for Bryce to say yes. You can’t make a kid in high school work seven days a week, legally, right? 

“I have no work but...I guess I can talk to my dad…We have a family dinner tonight.” Bryce sounds hesitant. The ‘You know how he is’ is unspoken, but Rhys hears it in the silence on the other end.

“Well, tell him this is important. It doesn’t happen up here so often. It’s really special.” He feels like he’s pleading with Mr. Harper, not on the phone with Bryce. He just misses him, that’s all. There’s nothing terrible or wrong about Rhys missing his best friend. Shouldn’t he want his son to go out and like, partake in the beauty of the Earth God gave them, or something?

Bryce says he’ll talk to his dad about it, and hangs up. Rhys immediately starts pacing the length of his kitchen, back and forth, waiting for the landline to ring. He’s trying not to get his hopes up, Bryce’s dad is a little...strict.

The doorbell rings, cutting through Rhys’s mind. He hears Meloria calling from the door. “Rhys! Bryce is here!”  Rhys can’t get to the door fast enough. He can’t believe it, Bryce is standing on the porch, panting like a dog. “I snuck out ...ran all the way here…” He has this sly smile on his face. It makes Rhys’s heart start pounding against his ribcage like it’s trying to escape.

“I never pegged you as a rebel.” Rhys says, grabbing his keys from the hook by the door. “We should get to the beach, the sun is gonna set soon.”

“What can I say, you’re a bad influence.” Bryce is smiling the widest Rhys has ever seen him smile as he climbs into the cab of Rhys’s truck. He winks. Rhys can feel his heart slide into his stomach. Who the hell  _ winks _ ?

On the drive to the beach, Rhys has the classic rock station on low. The windows are down, since the AC broke on the first hot day of the year, and Rhys doesn’t need to fix it really, not when it’s so beautiful out. It gives him an excuse to not talk to Bryce, the wind is too loud to hear. But his blonde hair is whipping around his face, like a tornado, and Rhys has to grip the steering wheel to keep from melting into a puddle. The sun is setting into the water, making a bridge of light. The water is turning orange, the cab of the truck is full of golden light.  Rhys wants to connect all the dots, put all the puzzle pieces together, but he's still missing one. He doesn’t understand what’s going on, why he feels this way sitting next to his best friend, driving down Highway 1. It’s too confusing. Bryce suddenly starts laughing hysterically laughing, out of nowhere. His happiness is infectious, Rhys starts laughing too. He’s not worried about anything at all suddenly. Things will sort themselves out. 

When they get their feet in the sand, Bryce turns to Rhys suddenly, this wild look in his eyes. His hair is windblown, it looks natural on him. Like he was born for it. He’s still smiling when he says “Let’s go swimming.” He grabs Rhys’s hand, and starts dragging him to the water. Rhys digs his heels into the sand.

“What the hell? I didn’t bring my trunks.” He can feel the smile on his face, a big, stupid smile. It hurts his cheeks almost. There’s no venom or resistance in his question. Maybe Bryce wants to be naked.

Bryce suddenly lets go, and Rhys feels sad. But that feeling flies away, as soon as Bryce lifts his shirt above his head, and Rhys gets a glimpse of his stomach. The feeling from earlier in the truck comes back. “We’ll go in our boxers.” 

Rhys rolls his eyes. “God, you’re totally from Nevada. Fine.” Rhys follows suit, stripping down. 

It’s just him and Bryce in their boxer briefs. Rhys has seen more of Bryce’s skin than this, but in the setting sun, it feels somehow...more. He can’t look at Bryce, but at the same time, he can’t look away. Bryce tosses his glasses into the pile of his clothes, on top of the sandy towel Rhys always brings in his truck. He’s still smiling at Rhys, when he starts running. “Bet you can’t catch me!” 

Rhys takes off after him into the water, the cold making his bones ache. What the hell is he doing. “You’re a show off! You know you’re faster than me.” He says, when he finally catches up. They’re standing in the ocean, up to their chests in freezing water.

“Jesus, Bryce.” A shudder runs through Rhys’s body. 

“Put your head under! It’ll warm your body up.” Bryce is smiling at him, without his glasses on, he looks different. But not in a bad way. 

He can feel the water draw back, up into the swell that’s approaching, and he dives under, still processing all of this. The blood roars in his ears, as he feels the wave crash above him. He knows he has to come up for air, he has to come up and face Bryce. Face this weird feeling in his stomach. He can feel his heart beating harder at the prospect of surfacing, coming face to face with Bryce. 

They both come up around the same time, gulping cool, salty air. Bryce’s hair is wet and dark, it hangs in his face. He flips his hair, like a reflex, and water goes everywhere. It’s like time is frozen, Bryce smiling at Rhys, his blue eyes crinkling. The water is orange, Bryce’s skin is Californian summer tanned, dotted with freckles. His eyes are bright blue, Rhys’s eyes drag over the freckles on his shoulders, moving down to his chest, a little chest hair springing up, but other than that, he’s smooth, and soft looking. He’s golden. 

It’s like the missing puzzle piece Rhys needed was found, in some weird place, in an entirely different place than he’d been looking the entire time. Bryce is  _ beautiful _ , and he’s smiling, it’s just him and Bryce, alone in the water, no one is watching them on the sand either. He can’t stop staring. And Bryce can’t stop staring back at him either. Rhys suddenly realizes what the feeling was.

A crush. He thought Bryce had looked weird without the glasses on, different. But it wasn’t weird, Rhys just suddenly realized his best friend was really beautiful. He doesn’t have time to ruminate on this sudden change in pace, when Bryce surges forward, puts his hands on Rhys’s shoulders, and kisses him. 

It’s nothing strong, no tongue. It’s not like a bad kiss in a closet, in the dark, like Rhys’s other kisses have been. It’s gentle. It feels...special. Rhys feels special. 

But suddenly, a wave crashes into the two of them, spoiling the moment, knocking their legs out from under them. They’re left floating in the water, still staring at each other. Rhys starts laughing, and Bryce pounces on him from behind, laughing too. Rhys’s heart is still pounding, as he turns and shoves Bryce into the water, where he lands with a splash. They’re wrestling in the waves now, young men, enjoying a summer night. It’s everything Rhys wanted from summer. 

He feels free.

* * *

The sun had gone down, Rhys was sitting next to Bryce in the sand, still warm from the sun. A shiver runs up Rhys's spine as a breeze kicks up, and he scoots closer to Bryce. Their shoulders are touching. Rhys speaks so softly, pointing out to the water, where the waves are glowing as they crash onto the sand.

“See, I told you. They glow. It’s special, isn’t it?”

Bryce doesn’t say a word in response. He just lets his hand find Rhys’s hand, and locks their fingers together.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you liked it! It means the world to me. Also I think I'm like 10 words over the limit. Sue me.


End file.
